On tap at Copper Mine, likable soft-toned helles bock brings polite citric-spiced lemon-limed tartness and ancillary banana sweetness to buttery white-breaded spine. Resinous herbal-hopped respite fills out delicate backend of easygoing summertime session beer.
Quite exquisite soft-toned smoked porter retains well-integrated bittersweet lactic mocha theme. Creamy dark chocolate-roasted maple sapping and peat-smoked cocoa malting ride above subtle wood-burnt hop sear to brown-sugared oats backdrop. Sweet vanilla, fudge and burnt toffee counter lightly embittered cocoa nibs/ Bakers chocolate conflux. Espresso coffee niche sidelined by peanut-shelled walnut, hazelnut and macadamia nuttiness as well as slightest tobacco roast. Strangely dirty earthen waft is inconsequential misnomer.
Marginalized autumnal seasonal (brewed with maple syrup) needs better maple sapping, richer pastry-like malting and deeper honeyed wheat penetration. Syrupy sugared sinew sweetens bark-dried cedar-aged rum notch that fades way too fast to rancorous raw-honeyed dry hop astringency. Tinny finish disrupts latent chestnut, almond, pecan and toffee illusions. A nebulous disappointment less effective than Rogue’s similarly styled Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale.
Unconvincing Farmhouse-styled ale closer to a wavering saison with its muted orange-oiled lemondrop frontage, phenol hop tingle and raw-honeyed fungi spell. Light white-breaded graining fails to properly insulate tertiary apricot, pear and apple smear.
Wonderful Flanders Red Ale collects brettanomyces barnyard funk for vinous white wine souring, dry sherry tartness, balsamic raspberry rasp and oaken cherry pucker. Candied apple remnant, lemon-dropped cranberry pucker and wispy vanilla bean bittering add depth to slow sippin’ sour ale.
On tap at Pocono’s Log Cabin Bar, approachable German-styled session beer brings orange-nipped lemon spritz to grassy Hallertau-hopped bittering. Buttery crystal malt base softly underlines citric crispness. In the bottle, thin pilsner-malted German-styled pale lager lacks pizzazz. Astringent raw-honeyed sinew and phenol hop bittering pick up rancid buttery notion. Slurry citric-quince waver buried beneath unfulfilled flavor profile.
On tap at Poconos’ Log Cabin Bar, stylistically robust and well balanced pale ale lavishes sharp perfumed hops onto viscous lacquered fruiting. Spicy lemon-peeled orange, peach, grapefruit and quince tones casually decorate doughy biscuit-like backdrop. A fine crossover to stronger IPA styling. Less efficient bottled version brings sheepish crystal-malted red, orange and yellow fruiting to spritzy dry-hopped spicing. Mild metallic astringency raids faded citric-spiced finish.
Engaging ‘cherry-inspired’ cream ale makes for fine fruity malt beverage with its fizzy soda-like pop and sinewy corn syruping. Sweet and sour red cherry ripens fig-spiced apple, cranberry, raspberry, blueberry and strawberry illusions, settling into champagne-like Chambord liqueur slumber. Beneath, crayon-like plasticity seeps into astringent saison yeast profile.
Multi-dimensional British barleywine aged in apple brandy barrels picks up candied coughdrop sweetness over rich cherry pureed whiskey boozing and chewy caramel malting. Candied apple finish gains sugary overload.
Vacillating Belgian knockoff wavers between brisk lemon-peeled effervescence and herbaceous tea-like seduction. Dry pepper-spiced grassy hop prickle reinforces remedial citric-soured hard candy coating, tart baked apple warmth and red-wined nashi pear graining. Musty earthen barnyard minerality brings puckering bettanomyces-like funk to latent ester-y grape murk.
Iffy ruddy-browned barleywine stylistically closer to an Imperial IPA with its aggressive hop-oiled fruiting. A delicate sherry insistence coats ripe pineapple, grapefruit, apricot and peach illusions above creamy cocoa-sugared crystal malting. Caramelized vanilla buttering pleats ancillary raisin-breaded niche and dainty floral bouquet.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, improved updated version of Gordon (now listed as an Imperial Red/ Imperial IPA hybrid) got christened G’Knight in 2012. Orange-bruised cherry-berry ripeness infiltrates sugary malt sweetness to helles bock-like biscuit-y Graham Cracker spine. Sharp hop bite deepens fruity assertion.
